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Monday, July 19, 2021

Out of Death 2021 * * 1/2 Stars

DEATH HUNT

Out of Death is my latest review. It's a crime thriller that tries so hard for you to like it. It really does. "Death" is 95 minutes long but it feels like two hours. I mean it's all over the place. It's ambitious, it has fairly good intentions, but it's flawed to the nth degree. To recommend Out of Death would be the equivalent of giving it a pass. Uh, I don't give passes.

So OK, "Death" is I guess a Western or a pseudo Western if you will. It's about a woman hiker who witnesses a murder by a member of a corrupt police force. Bruce Willis co-stars as Jack Harris, a retired cop who helps said witness expose the baddie po-po. Willis is of course comatose but the movie sort of rises above him. I mean I've seen much worse Willis outings in my day ("Death" is a welcome surprise compared to cow dung like Vice and Precious Cargo).

Like I said earlier, Out of Death is ambitious but boy is it eye-rolling. Rookie director Mike Burns doesn't know when to quit. Accompanied by show off editing from R. J. Cooper, Burns uses title cards with chapters attached as if he were Quentin Tarantino. Come on dude, just shoot like a normal bloke! Mike also imposes fake CGI raindrops, weird camera angles, a recycled screenplay, and co-written music that seems to come in at every waking moment. Heck, "Death's" unrestrained score doesn't always fit the scenes. It shifts more in tone than Tony Stewart shifts gears at a freaking NASCAR race.

The acting in Out of Death is I guess palatable but sometimes you see the troupers almost forgetting their lines and pausing. What the??? And what's with Willis filming all his clips in one day (I read that on the flick's wiki page). I guess that's what stardom means. Bottom line: Out of Death is watchable but you have to keep your integrity as a viewer. Don't exactly yield to it. "Death" knell all but.

Written by Jesse Burleson

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